


Gotta Catch 'Em All

by TheNutcase



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Badass!Josie, F/F, Fluff, Hope's a mess, Humor, Lizzie Saltzman/Hope Mikaelson Rivalry, Pokemon, as usual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 09:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25967662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNutcase/pseuds/TheNutcase
Summary: Hope Mikaelson wants to be the very best, like no one ever was.  (Or, well, she at least wants to be half as good as her father.)The only thing standing between her and the glory that is waiting for her at her first Pokémon competition is the gym in Mystic Falls, where she needs to earn her last badge.It might be harder than she thought.Or,The Pokémon AU
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 10
Kudos: 74





	Gotta Catch 'Em All

Josie Saltzman and Hope Mikaelson first met on a Sunday. It wasn’t under the best circumstances.

Josie was wandering through the woods, hoping to find something rare. Despite being alive for seventeen years, she’d never been able to travel much—she had to settle for venturing out into the wilderness near town to expand her Pokédex. 

Josie was lucky that Mystic Falls was built at the intersection of four kinds of terrain. The town was bounded by grasslands in the north and a dense forest to the south. Toward the west, the forest gave way to a sprawling desert. Toward the east, there was a massive lake—massive enough that the other side was lost to the horizon. 

Trainers who had a preference for water types came from all over just for the lake. It was teeming with life and said to be a rich source of rare water Pokémon. 

A relatively short ferry ride revealed that the far side of the lake was bounded by a mountain range. There was also an expansive cave system embedded within it, and only a small area near the entrance had been well-explored. 

For most of Josie’s life, the town was small and isolated. But, lately, the reputation of its gym had caused foot traffic to skyrocket. Mystic Falls rapidly transformed from a small town into a hub of activity. 

Despite this, very little of its surrounding terrain had been erased. A construction company had plans to build a suburb to the north (a project which some of the locals weren’t very happy about), but that was still in progress.

Josie had lived in Mystic Falls for her whole life. She knew nearly everything about the surrounding area. She knew the bounds of Spearow and Beedrill territory, because of some mistakes she’d made when she was younger. She knew exactly where the Butterfree gathered during mating season. She even knew where the Pidgeys roosted. 

And Josie was bored.

The area was perfect for trainers who wanted to settle, but Josie didn’t _want_ to settle—not exactly. She just had to, for… reasons.

Nothing about the area excited her anymore. It was all too familiar. It occurred to her that she had already wandered down this exact trail at least a dozen times this summer alone.

The trees lined the path in the exact same way they always did. One had fallen across the path, and Josie scoffed as she realized that it was the most exciting thing to happen to her today. Even all of the Pokémon she encountered were the same. 

Josie was growing used to the boredom at this point. It seemed to be getting more and more unbearable every time she ventured out of town. 

But, this time, the boredom was disrupted in probably the most unpleasant way possible.

A bike came swerving around the bend in the trail at such a high speed that Josie was certain for a moment that she was about to die.

The bike was moving so quickly that she had to dive into a bush head-first to avoid becoming roadkill.

The careless bike rider only noticed Josie at the last second. She slammed on the brakes and swerved sharply to avoid hitting her.

This put both Josie and the bike’s owner in peril. As Josie tried to break her fall with her hands, the bike skidded on the ground and practically fell out from under the rider, who let out a surprised yelp before her body flung through the air and violently rolled to a halt. 

There was a metal _clang_ as the bike collided with a tree. It nearly covered up Josie’s cry of _“Ow, what the fuck?!”_

Josie took a moment to recover. Then, she glanced over to see the auburn-haired bike rider still curled up in a ball on the ground with her back turned. Josie briefly worried that the girl might be hurt. Then, a throbbing pain in Josie’s wrist forced her to remember that she, herself, might be hurt.

Josie pushed herself off of the ground with her uninjured hand, scooting back a couple inches to sit upright against a tree. She cradled her wrist to her chest and stared down at it with a pout.

Movement caused Josie to glance up. She watched as the bike owner scrambled to stand up.

Good, Josie thought. At least she wasn’t dead.

Little did she know, the bike owner was also worried that Josie might be dead. She quickly spun on her heel to check the moment she was on her feet.

Josie forgot that she was injured for a moment. The girl was really pretty—especially her eyes, even though they were wide and looked a bit panicked.

Another stab of pain in her wrist pulled Josie back to reality. She visibly winced and stared down at her wrist.

This seemed to force the bike owner out of her own stupor. She blinked rapidly and took a few quick strides toward the brunette, her eyes widening even further.

“Oh, my God! I am _so_ sorry!” the girl blurted out frantically, kneeling down beside Josie. Her voice was pretty, too, Josie noted. “Are you okay, are you hurt?!”

Josie opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out of it. 

Josie was too overwhelmed to speak. The girl was suddenly touching her, one hand firm on Josie’s shoulder while the other gently prodded at her wrist. 

Josie felt like she was about to have a heart attack. She tried very hard to convince herself that the pounding in her chest was a delayed reaction to her near-death experience.

The blush on her face must’ve also been a delayed reaction to her near-death experience, she figured.

The reckless biker didn’t notice the fact that Josie was blushing. She also didn't notice the fact that Josie hadn't answered her question, apparently. She seemed to be intently focused on Josie’s wrist, presumably trying to make sure that it wasn’t broken. 

The stranger carefully pressed into a spot just below Josie’s palm with her thumb. Josie sucked in a sharp breath at the spike of pain that jolted up her arm in response.

The girl's eyes darted up to look at Josie’s face, which had contorted into a grimace. “Did that hurt?” she asked. Her eyes were intense (and even prettier up front), Josie noted. 

“Uh,” Josie said dumbly, embarrassed when she heard her own voice crack. She cleared her throat, glancing down. Maybe it would be easier to speak if she wasn’t staring into the girl’s eyes. “No, I… um, it only hurts a little bit. I don’t think it’s serious.”

The stranger let out a heavy, relieved sigh. “Oh, thank God,” she murmured under her breath. She seemed to relax slightly, the tension draining from her shoulders.

Then, she glanced down. Her eyes widened with panic once again and she jerked her hands back like she’d been burned, a heavy blush rising to her cheeks. She averted eye contact.

Josie cleared her throat awkwardly, still contending with a blush herself. She stood up quickly, careful to avoid putting any weight on her wrist in the process. The other girl followed her lead and rose to her feet, too, brushing some dirt off of her pants.

Josie realized that she shouldn’t be feeling so flustered. She _should_ be feeling irritated about the fact that this complete stranger had nearly run her over, she told herself. She crossed her arms over her chest. “You shouldn’t have taken that turn so fast,” she scolded with a scowl. “You could’ve killed me.”

Instantly, the bike owner looked so guilty that Josie’s glare faltered, her scowl collapsing into a less accusatory frown. She almost wanted to take back what she’d said, but she resisted the urge. What she’d said was the truth, after all.

The stranger gulped, paling and looking down at her shoes. “I—uh, yes, you are absolutely right,” she muttered guiltily, shifting on her feet. She looked up hesitantly, like she was almost too ashamed to meet Josie’s eye. “Sorry, I was just—”

The girl cut herself off, her eyes widening and glazing over like she’d just remembered something very important. Josie frowned. “You were just what?” she prompted.

The glazed over, panicky look didn’t recede from the girl's eyes. “Oh, shit,” she muttered to herself instead of answering Josie’s question.

Josie’s brow furrowed. That didn’t clear things up whatsoever. “What?” she repeated, more confused than angry at this point.

The girl rushed over to her bike, frantically pulling her backpack out of the bike’s basket and unzipping it to look inside. She let out a relieved sigh. “I, uh—I have to go,” she stuttered out absentmindedly without looking up. She closed the backpack and pulled the bike upright.

Josie scoffed. “You know, you don’t seem very sorry,” she drawled sarcastically, propping her hands on her hips. Her irritation was back full force.

The girl shoved the backpack into the basket and mounted her bike. She looked back at Josie with an apologetic pout. “I am! I am _so_ sorry,” she blurted out. “I swear. I just, uh—I’m really, really sorry, but I’m in a rush—I have to go _now_.”

Josie gave the girl an exasperated look, astounded at her rudeness. “Are you serious?” she asked, in disbelief.

The girl was already starting to peddle away down the path, but she gave Josie a sympathetic, conflicted look as she passed. “I—you seem great, I’m really sorry we had to meet like this,” she called out over shoulder.

Josie watched as the inconsiderate biker sped up (apparently not having learned her lesson). She soon disappeared around the corner. 

Josie just stared at the place she saw her last for a long pause, her jaw slack. “Rude,” she muttered to herself under her breath, eventually turning around to continue her walk.

* * *

The medical center in Mystic Falls was open 24/7, but it was rare that anyone would go there on a Sunday. The gym was closed on Sundays, after all. 

On every other day of the week, it was almost guaranteed that at least one trainer would rush in to get their Pokémon patched up after a devastating loss. (People rarely won in Mystic Falls, which was part of the reason that the gym had such a good reputation.)

Emma hated working on Sundays. It was boring. Typically, Emma just sat around for what felt like an eternity and no one showed up.

But Hope Mikaelson was anything but typical. 

Emma was busy staring blankly at the front door when Hope burst through it like a bat out of hell.

Emma immediately rose from her chair, alarmed. 

Hope rushed up to the counter, cradling a backpack in her arms. “Are you open?” she gasped out frantically.

“We’re always open,” Emma replied, the sentence measured and rehearsed. She glanced warily at the backpack. “What’s going on?”

Hope sighed. “I just—well, just look,” she sputtered, gently placing the backpack down on the counter and opening it.

Emma glanced inside to see a severely injured Pidgey. Her eyes widened. “What happened?!” she immediately blurted out, reaching out to open the backpack further and get a closer look.

Hope released an exasperated sigh, roughly running a hand through her hair. “He—there was this Beedrill I was battling,” she began to explain, sounding exhausted. “And I was trying to catch it, and then he—well, the Beedrill wrecked him.”

At this, Emma looked up from the Pidgey to give Hope a disbelieving, affronted glare. “You tried to battle against a Beedrill with a Pidgey?!” she snapped, shocked. “That is so irresponsible!”

Hope shook her head, waving her arms frantically to deny it. “No! No, I didn’t—he’s not even my Pokémon!” she blurted out, clearly overwhelmed by the whole situation.

This only made Emma more confused. “What do you mean, he’s not your Pokémon?” she asked with a frown.

Hope pinched the bridge of her nose and sucked in a deep breath. “I was battling with my Lucario,” she explained, putting in a concentrated effort to steady her voice. “The Pidgey, he just—he’s been following me around ever since I started training for some reason. He jumps in when I’m battling sometimes, even if it’s going well.”

Emma stared at Hope blankly, trying to figure out if the girl was insane or not.

Hope frowned. “I know how it looks, but I never _tell_ him to,” she insisted, sounding extremely frustrated. “He’s really useless. I end up just having to protect him instead of trying to win the battle; it makes things more difficult.”

The more Hope attempted to explain the situation, the more confused Emma became. Emma had never heard of a Pokémon behaving in such a manner. She stared at Hope for a long pause, her expression unreadable.

For her part, Hope was growing more and more frustrated. The Pidgey whimpered pathetically and Hope scowled. “So, can you fix him up or not?” she prompted impatiently, no longer concerned about whether or not she was being rude.

Emma snapped out of it. Her panic appeared to switch off as she flipped into doctor mode. “I’ll do what I can,” she said simply. She picked up the backpack and walked over to a set of double doors, disappearing inside without another word.

Hope huffed out a sigh and made her way over to a chair in the waiting room. She plopped down into it, slouching over and resting her elbows on her knees. 

She was exhausted—she’d had to bike miles to get to town.

She rubbed at her ribs where they were tender. 

That bike near-collision was probably the most thoroughly embarrassing thing to happen to her all year. 

She really hoped that the girl she’d nearly crashed into was okay—that she hadn’t passed off the pain in her wrist as less severe than it was. She also hoped that the brunette didn’t think she was an terrible person for running away like that.

Hope desperately wanted to find her again, to properly apologize.

But Hope didn’t know where to even start with that. For all she knew, the brunette had been on her way out of town and wouldn’t be coming back.

Hope sighed. No use worrying about it now, she supposed. She'd try to explain herself if they ever ran into each other again, she decided, but whether or not that would happen was left up to fate.

Hope had no idea what fate had in store for her.

**Author's Note:**

> This exists now   
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯   
> Hope you like it
> 
> dedicated to @youngowl8 (young owl on here, check out her fics)


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